Luxe Living

Marc Anthony is singing the sweet song of homeownership, once again. The actor, award-winning singer/songwriter, and famous ex -husband of Jennifer Lopez has just plunked down about $2.5 million dollars for a new home in Encino, CA. He formerly shared a massive Hidden Hills, CA home with his ex wife J-Lo and their twins, Max and Emme. When the marriage to Lopez went belly up, Anthony decamped to a $23k-a-month rental in West Hollywood.

Now, he’s making the move to the decidedly more family-friendly city of Encino.

His new home is a gated Italian Villa in Amestoy Estates with a courtyard entry featuring a dramatic fountain. A 2-story foyer has limestone floors a curved staircase. The home has a formal living room with fireplace and an adjacent family rooms has hardwood floors, coffered ceilings, stone fireplace, entertainment unit, surround sound, wet bar. A gourmet kitchen boasts center island and every top-of-the-line appliance.

Anthony’s new master suite has a marble fireplace, French doors and a balcony. A glamorous master bathrooms features an oversized marble steam shower and a fully-customized walk-in closet. There’s a bonus room/gym on separate 3rd level. Outside, the grounds include meandering pathways, beautiful landscaping, vine covered arbors, pool & spa, towering palm trees, 2 BBQs, a loggia, fountain, and pool house with a full kitchen and 2 bathrooms.

Since the divorce, Lopez has been dating younger man, dancer Casper Smart. Anthony is taking a cue from his ex-wife in the dating department – he’s now dating Topshop heiress Chloe Green, who is 23 years his junior.

Quirky actor Breckin Meyer and his soon-to-be-ex-wife, screenwriter Deborah Kaplan, have put their family home in Beverly Hills, CA on the market for $2,995,000, as first reported by The Real Estalker. They purchased the place in the Beverly Hills Post Office neighborhood on September 19, 2003 for $1,875,000.

The sale of this home is likely prompted by the news that Meyer and his wife were going their separate ways after almost 11 years together. Divorce is one of the biggest reasons why people sell their homes, and in Hollywood, it’s no different.

The Meyers’ now for-sale home has a grand entry on first floor that flows into open entertaining rooms with high ceilings, a gracious dining room with wood beamed vaulted ceiling and an elegant living room that opens to a private, serene pool with a vine covered pergola. Aside from the 4 bedrooms and office/den upstairs, the home also has a combo screening/family room, plus one office with its own private entrance. The master has a secluded roof terrace and fabulous walk-in closet with enormous modern redone bathroom.

Aside from all the bells and whistles inside and out, the home also boasts a celebrity pedigree – Joan Collins once owned the property!

Billy Bob Thornton is downsizing!  According to public records, the aging actor sold his Beverly Hills estate on North Roxbury Drive on December 31, 2012 for $8,000,000. The estate, once shared with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, was massive – with nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms and 11,012 square feet.

Thorton’s new home officially became his on February 1, 2013, and is a more modest 2,818 square feet. Purchased for $2,700,000, the home has just five bedrooms and four bathrooms. Nestled in the Mandeville Canyon area of Brentwood, Thorton’s new home is a perfect Country Traditional that was seamlessly remodeled and expanded to create a two-story secluded retreat on a gated, flat lot. The living room has a fireplace, as does the open country dining/family room. Continuous French doors open to spectacular professionally-designed garden great room with a dry stacked stone fireplace, outdoor kitchen and salt water pool with solar heater.

Inside, a gourmet kitchen has stainless steel appliances, Carrera marble counters, walk-in pantry, and large eat-in banquette breakfast room. Downstairs, the home has four bedrooms, 2.75 bathrooms, and a maid’s suite off the kitchen.

Upstairs, Thorton’s master suite has an adjacent office/den/gym/nursery and private balcony.

This is quite the family-friendly estate for a man not always known as the most domestic man in Hollywood. Married and divorced five times, most notably to Angelina Jolie, Thorton has said that he believes marriage “doesn’t work” for him. Since 2003, Thornton has been in a relationship with makeup effects crew member Connie Angland, with whom he has a daughter, Bella.

Think Thorton and his family are slumming it in this newer, much smaller home? Not quite. The star still owns a home in Malibu that he paid $2,350,000 for in 2007.

Here’s a good one from the real estate rumor mill: according to reports, Beyoncé has plunked down close to $6 million on an opulent Houston, Texas, mansion for mom, Tina Knowles. If you haven’t stayed close to the Knowles’ family drama in the past few years, you may not have heard that Tina split from long-time husband (and former Beyoncé manager) Matthew Knowles after she found out that he fathered a love child with another woman during an 18-month-long affair. There’s no forgiving and forgetting in that family, so the duo split for keeps, and Tina’s now a ‘single lady.’

Lucky for mama, Beyoncé knows that a change can do a woman good, and a new house means a serious change of scenery.

The home, which was listed as a short sale, is the epitome of resort-style living. Nestled in a very private location in affluent Houston, the estate is built with striking Italian and French architecture and looks out onto views of lush gardens and sculpted granite.

Throughout the property, you’ll find state-of-the-art lighting, audio, security, and HVAC systems. The entryway is punctuated with suspended staircases, and just beyond, you’ll find a mirrored elevator, granite floors with marble, interior cast stone columns, malachite inlays, wide walnut and cherry floors, soaring seamless-glass windows, gold-plated fixtures and more.

That definitely sounds like a home fit for a ‘diva.’

With three properties already on the market, Kelsey Grammer is throwing a fourth into the mix by officially listing the home he recently purchased for new wife Kayte. In April 2012, Kelsey and his fourth wife purchased this six-bedroom Beverly Hills mansion for $6,500,000. It recently went up for rent for $30k a month, and now, it’s officially for sale for  $7,250,000!

Here’s the backstory: Kelsey originally bought the estate for new wife Kayte and their baby Faith as a home base when they relocated from New York City permanently in 2012. Shortly after the move to the West Coast, Kelsey’s show “Boss” got canceled, leaving him to re-evaluate his finances. Rather than stay in the new home, Kelsey decided to move the family into the OTHER house he owns in Beverly Hills that’s currently on the market for $16 million. Ex-wife Camille is pissed about the move, because she’s legally a co-owner and has been paying her half of the carrying costs on the home, which clock in around $40,000 a month. With Kelsey’s new family living in the house, it’s going to be even harder to offload, costing Camille even more money–she even went as far as requesting an injunction from a judge to bar the move! The motion was denied, and Kelsey’s now back in the higher-priced home, new family in tow.

It seems like the war between these two former spouses will never end.

Kelsey himself admitted that he has to move back into the higher-priced home he previously shared with Camille because, without income from his TV show, he’s strapped for cash and can’t afford to carry two Beverly Hills mortgages. Hopefully this latest home to hit the market will sell for a profit, and he’ll be back in the money again.

Grammer has other homes for sale in Malibu, Beaver Creek, and Beverly Hills–all three of which he owned with his ex-wife Camille–that must be sold as a part of the pair’s divorce settlement agreement. The faster they’re scooped up, the sooner these two new lovebirds can officially move on with their lives.

Siobhan Fahey, famous across the globe for being a founding member of the 1980′s British girl group Bananarama and later forming the award-winning musical group Shakespears Sister, has just purchased herself a rocking new pad in the Hollywood Hills. The 54-year-old rock star is the ex-wife of Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. The musically-inclined former duo have two sons, and according to an expose on Fahey, she keeps a home in Los Angeles to stay close to her sons, who are based there.

Her new home in the Hollywood Hills is in a spectacular location, arguably one of the most remarkable sites in Los Angeles. The home sits atop of the Los Feliz “Oaks” with a 180° view over most of the City of Angels. According to the listing information, Fahey’s new place is a gated, modern Zen retreat in need of some TLC, with amazing upside potential. Perhaps Fahey will make some serious upgrades!

As the home stands now, it has jaw dropping views from almost every room. It also features 15′ floating ceilings, polished concrete floors, and an ideal open floor plan. The private master suite has views of Hollywood and a private deck. A seamless indoor/outdoor space includes a private dark bottom pool with a luxe deck and flat grassy yard.

Usher’s ex-wife Tameka Foster is feeling the “Burn” of divorce. The R&B crooner has just told his ex that her time’s up in the $3.2 million mansion the then-married duo used to call home and she needs to find shelter elsewhere. According to TMZ and property records, Usher has just listed the home his ex lives in in Roswell, Georgia for $3.2 million. Usher and Tameka have been at odds over the settlement terms of their nasty divorce for years, and much of it has played out in the media. Foster has her side of the story, Usher has his. What is fact though, is that in their divorce settlement, Usher retained ownership of the stunning 12,544 square foot mansion and could sell it at any time, so long as he gives his ex 60 days’ notice.

Foster is now officially on notice, as the home is on the market – with a hefty $3.2 million price tag. Usher paid $3 million for the home in 2007, when he was still married to Foster. Since the split, she’s been living large in the home with the duo’s two children.

While all’s fair in love and war (and divorce), someone with deep pockets can swoop in and pick up Usher’s sweet pad. The home has 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, high ceilings, a 2-story stone foyer, a massive resort-style pool, in-home gym, 4 fireplaces, a library, eat-in kitchen and more. Gated for privacy and security, the home sits on 4+ acres.

Images via the MLS.

Amid rumors that they’re secretly finalizing an amicable divorce, Joe and Tina Simpson have placed their “storybook” country english mansion in Encino, CA on the market for $4.395M. Parents to Jessica Simpson and younger sister Ashlee, Tina and Joe have become celebrity figures in their own right, due to their constant presence beside their famous daughters. Way back when, Joe was rumored to be a wedge between Jessica Simpson and her then-husband Nick Lachey. As we all know, those two eventually divorced and moved on to new lives that now involve babies and new career ventures. This home also has some bad marital “juju,” as it was the venue for Ashlee Simpson’s wedding to rocker Pete Wentz in 2008. That union ended in divorce.

So, while we wait for divorce rumors to be confirmed, we can look at this real estate move as a signal that Joe and Tina are headed that way. Dividing of the “marital assets” and selling of the family home is a common stop on the road to splitsville. If the divorce rumors aren’t true, perhaps Joe and Tina just want to downsize or need a change of scenery. We’ll have to wait and see.

What are they selling? Their estate is located in The Colony, a guard gated community of 19 estates in the heart of Encino’s Royal Oaks. The Simpson home is sited on over 1.5 acres and is epitome of “resort style” living. The copper turret entry beckons guests past a sprawling lawn with fountains to the grand rotunda. A formal living room features a pitched beamed ceiling and fireplace. The family room has a beamed ceiling, stone fireplace, wet bar, and wall of french doors. A breakfast room extends to the gourmet kitchen with Viking appliances and granite counters, a beamed ceiling, and butler’s pantry. A stunning formal dining room seats 10. Ascend the spiral staircase to the foyer. A master suite contains a fireplace, duel walk-in closets and stunning bath. The upstairs features 3 bedroom suites, perfect for a large family and grandkids! The home also comes complete with a professional theater and huge office. The grounds feature a fireplace, fire pit, wet bar, lagoon style pool and spa complete with grotto waterfall, sports court, gazebo, and putting range with views. The property also features a guest suite/gym with separate entrance and bathroom.

Jory Burton of Sotheby’s holds the listing

Update: On 10/24, Joe and Tina officially confirmed the divorce rumors, according to USWeekly.

Can someone say fresh start? Camille Grammer, the famous-for-being-the-ex-of-Kelsey-Grammer reality TV star is selling her longtime family home in the Serra Retreat area of Malibu for the big money sum of $17.9M.

Anyone with a penchant for trashy TV knows that Camille often had the camera crew from “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” inside the walls of this here mansion and it was often the backdrop for dramatic dinner parties, screaming matches, emotional breakdowns and the like.

Now that Camille and Kelsey have reached a divorce settlement and are officially residents of Splitsville and she’s off with a new beau and he’s already on wife number 4 with a brand new baby, it only makes sense for this long-time “family home” to make it’s way onto the market. The then-married duo purchased the home on May 6, 1998 for $4,500,000 and proceeded to expand and upgrade the home into the spectacular estate you now see.

The gated and private property is approximately 4.77 acres of natural beauty with towering trees, flowering gardens, a lily pond, a lighted tennis court and large private pool with all of the necessary ingredients for entertaining. The property features a grand main residence with gourmet kitchen designed by Wolfgang Puck, a large master suite with spectacular ocean views,  a living room, great room,  library, and Creston engineered home theater room with large projection screen, separate bath and kitchen.  The detached guest house includes a large kitchen, sitting room, several bedrooms, 5 car garage, private patio and rooftop deck.  The expansive property also includes a dressage riding ring and nine stall barn.

Please note: The property is owned through a trust and their divorce settlement is sealed and not available to the public, so it’s not clear whether Camille or Kelsey retained legal ownership after their bitter split. TV cameras show Camille in-residence after the split, but we can’t confirm who’s name is actually on the title.

Camille and Kelsey Grammer also currently have two more marital homes on the market. A $7M vacation estate in Beaver Creek, CO and an $18M Beverly Hills home.

Chris Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker holds the listing

Hat tip to The Real Estalker, who first spotted the listing.

Here at Trulia HQ, we’re always sad to read about the demise of celebrity couples. They all just seem so in love. I mean, we never saw the whole Kim and Kris thing coming (we kid, we kid.) But this one today was a little bit of an unexpected Friday surprise – Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The collective duo known affectionately as TomKat are no more. Perhaps Katie found marriage to Tom to be “Mission: Impossible?”

After the couch jumping, the wedding in an Italian Castle and the adorable, well-dressed tot named Suri, we thought these two might have a fighting chance to actually make it work. Today, we learn that it’s just not gonna happen for them. So, now what will happen to the mega-millions they have earned collectively over their 5-year marriage? We’re sure they have that all figured out via a standard Hollywood iron-clad prenup.

Well, we may never know who will get what, but it doesn’t stop us from wondering what will happen to their impressive collection of real estate.

Let’s break down their homes, which you can peep in this order in the slideshow above and down below.

1111 Calle Vista Drive Beverly Hills, California 90210

TomKat purchased the estate on April 27, 2007 for $30,500,000. The 10,286 square foot estate has 7 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms.

7860 Torreyson Drive, Los Angeles, California 90046

Purchased on June 3, 2005 for $9,850,000. Public records say the home is 4,965 square feet and has 3 bedrooms and 5 bedroom. It sits on 2.4 acres.

42 W. 12th St. New York, New York 10011

This East Coast outpost was purchased on April 7, 2009 for $15,075,000. It’s very large by New York standards: 8,113 square feet.

1545 E. Valley Road, Montecito, California 93108

We don’t have too much intel on this TomKat vacation property, but public records show that it measures in at 9,477 square feet and the main residence has 6.5 bathrooms.

115 Francisco Way, Telluride, Colorado 81435

Purchased by Tom before he was married to Katie on October 31, 1995, to be exact. Purchase price and home details are not currently available.

So there you have it – the real estate reality of the soon-to-be-exes Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Gawk and maybe shed a little tear if you have to. We’ll let the tabloids take it from here…

Images via Bing.